As a player he was an all rounder (a right-handed batsman and medium-pace bowler[1]) who played 490 first-class matches, scoring 21,916 runs and taking 585 wickets, between 1966 and 1991.
[1] Jesty helped Hampshire to win the 1973 County Championship, taking 35 wickets at an average of 20 (although less successful with the bat that year),[2] and the John Player League in 1975 and 1978.
Jesty played 10 one-day internationals for England, most of them during the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup tournament in 1983.
[1] In 1983 he made 166 not out, his highest score in limited-over cricket, in a John Player League match against Surrey, sharing in an unbroken second-wicket stand of 269 with Gordon Greenidge.
[1] While at Surrey he made 112 in a NatWest Trophy semi final against Lancashire in 1986, finishing narrowly on the losing side.